Gerald Langiri

Early life and education

Born in July 29, 1985, Gerald Langiri is an actor and casting director from Nairobi, Kenya. His passion for acting goes as far back to when he would perform skits, solo verses and took part in choral verses, public speaking and any art related projects in his early school years where art and craft was his favorite subject.

Upon completion of his high school studies, he wanted to pursue acting as a career but like many talented Kenyans with similar passions, he did not know where to start. He therefore opted to pursue a bachelor's degree in Computing and Internet Systems from the University of Huddersfield and has worked in the Information Technology Sector where he as employed as an IT Billing Manager in a telecommunications company.

His passion for acting however never left him and his 1st commercial acting breakthrough came in 2011 where took on the role of a lawyer in a series titled Mashtaka. He later starred as a recurring character in soap opera, Mali.While working on Mali, Gerald made a bold move of quitting his day job to pursue acting as a full-time career. He founded "www.actors.co.ke" (nominated best topical blog at the bloggers’ awards 2013) which is a website that centers on Kenyan actors and the acting industry at large giving news and information about the industry while exposing Kenyans acting industry to the world. That also established him as a Casting Director and he has cast for several movies like Veve in whichhe played Superintendent Steven,House of Lungula where he portrayed Harrison. He has also been featured Bongo Movies , several series, short films and advertisements.

Gerald has also featured and made special guest appearances in series like Maisha and Rosa where he also played the roles of a superintendent. To break away from the typical type cast roles, he has directed his own short films one which won 2nd runners place in the U-Film-It competition 2012 titled the "Bigger Man". He has also featured in an Airtel advert as a DJ. In 2013 he host a funny comedy Talk Show titled "In the Forest" that features celebrity interviews. In 2012, he got contracted on the most watched and longest running show on Kenya Television, Papa Shirandula, where he plays Mr. Araka. In 2013,he also played as Nico on the Nokia sponsored series Stay with Mkamzee Mwatela. In 2014, he appeared as a guest on Wanuri kahiu series titled State house where he played the role of Governor Lotim and also in another web series titled Rispa is where he plays a father of two,married and a nagging maid.

As part of the 56 Africa magic original films project, Gerald has featured in two movies, in 2014 titled Orphan and You can’t Hack this where he played Julius a political advisor and Paul, a mean boss of his own company respectively.

He is the secretary of the Kenya Oscars Committee and a Member of the Kenya Film and Television Professional Association. He was nominated in the category of "Best Film Journalist" in the African Film Development Awards 2013. He is also known to champion for actors rights and along with other actors, they are trying to form the Kenya Actor Guild which will go along way to streamline the acting industry in Kenya.

Career

In 2013, he was the host of web-series talk show titled "in the forest", sparking a wave of web series productions thereafter from the Kenyan film industry. He also played the role of Mr Tembo in a web series titled Rispa. Gerald Langiri is the founder and administrator of actors.co.ke (nominated twice at the Kenyan blog awards), a website that centers on Kenyan actors and the acting industry at large, giving news and information about the industry while providing opportunities to new actors joining the acting scene. That also established him as a casting director and he has cast for several movies like Veve (directed by Simon as Superintendent Steve), going to Tanzania and several series, short films and advertisements. He is a member of the Kenya Actors Guild, the secretary of the Kenya Oscars Committee and a Member of the Kenya Film and Television Professional Association.

He received a nomination in the category of "Best Film Journalist" in the African Film Development Awards 2013 due to his writing and articulation of film related matters on his website.